1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an equipment storage bucket and, more particularly, to such a vertically extendable equipment storage bucket apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vertically extended work bucket are known in the art, namely:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,627 issued Apr. 6, 2004 in the name of Bonner et al.;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,566 issued Feb. 8, 2005 in the name of Bonner; and
U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,703, issued May 3, 2005 in the name of Bonner.
Each of these references is incorporated by reference herein as if rewritten in its entirety, and each describes a beneficial task neutral work bucket and teaches various manners in which the work bucket can be elevated or retracted between work and storage positions, respectively. For example, the '627 reference describes a pair of nesting 5-gallon work buckets that are nestably engaged and connected with a linear, vertical sliding track that interconnects the two. In this fashion, the upper bucket can be elevated to allow for raising of a bucket of water while washing cars, cleaning windows, and the like, thereby eliminating bending over and reducing back strain. A plurality of castor-type wheels are shown to allow movement of the utilized bucket around the work area.
In an additional example, the '566 reference again provides for nestable bucket arrangements and provides an improved alternate embodiment of engaging and connecting the upper and lower buckets. The lower bucket forms a guide channel configured with a vertical guide channel and a number of horizontal locking channels. The upper bucket forms an outwardly protruding guide pin. The engagement between and movement of the guide pin into the guide channel provides the linear, vertical sliding interconnection between the two.
In the final example, the '703 reference improves upon the configuration of the guiding and locking channel in which at least two furrow series formed along the inner sidewall of the shell receives a plurality of corresponding ribs formed along the outer sidewall of the container to facilitate vertical adjustment through a stepped, lift-and-rotate motion.
While these references combined teach various and effective ways of providing a general purpose, liquid containing work bucket that can elevate its contents to meet the user and still remain substantially portable about a general purpose work area, it has been found that such designs have drawbacks when applied to certain task specific applications.
One such task specific application deals generally with the game of baseball. In training at baseball in any level, there are two major areas that cannot be ignored: batting practice; and pitching practice.
Many aids for batting practice exist; however, none simulate the presence of a live pitcher sufficiently to function as a complete replacement. Similarly, some aids for pitching practice exits, with none quite the same as facing a live batter. So, for a pitcher and hitter to obtain enough repetitions in a short amount of time to become beneficial training exercises for either, the current method includes a batting practice pitcher taking the pitching mound with a large volume of baseballs, and pitching them one after another at a batter. However, in such an routine the pitcher needs to bend over between each pitch to retrieve another ball, and the features and benefits of the prior art references, if available in this task specific application, would provide analogous benefits.
However, in attempting to utilize the prior art in such a manner, serious drawbacks were discovered making such devices incapable of functioning for such a task specific application.
By way of example, and not as a limitation, the forum in which batting practice usually occurs, i.e. outdoors on a grass and/or dirt field, do not accommodate a castor wheeled, nested bucket. In the storage and retrieval of baseballs a water holding, even nested bucket creates limited wieldability, and the need to connect or nest storage element itself is a great hindrance in that a bucket of baseballs can be used in many drills on many parts of the field (i.e. pitching practice, fielding practice, fly-ball practice, etc.)
Consequently, a need exists for providing a vertically extendable equipment storage bucket apparatus that is specifically adapted for use in baseball and in support of baseball practice activities.